controversistn.
/ˈkɒntrəvəːsɪst/, /kənˈtrɒvəsɪst/, U.S. /ˈkɑntrəˌvərsəst/ Now somewhat rare.
= controversialist n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > testing > debate, disputation, argument > controversy, dispute, argument > [noun] > person engaged in
disputer1434
wrangler1561
debater1594
controvertist1608
disputant1612
controverser1614
controverter1615
controversist1623
disputator1637
polemic1639
disceptator1656
controversialist1658
eristic1659
scaldabancoa1670
fencera1680
controversionalist?1780
digladiator1803
argufier1805
polemist1825
polemicist1864
polemician1871
picador1876
barrack-room lawyer1943
1623 G. Musket Bishop of London his Legacy iii. 34 So Alphabeticall & yong a Controuersist.
1672 W. Penn Spirit of Truth Vindicated 67 Yet this pedling Controversist will be doing, though as little to purpose as need be.
1727 A. Collins Scheme of Literal Prophecy Considered xiii. 402 It is the chief part of a controversist to prove his point and answer his adversary.
1776 Ld. Hailes in tr. Acct. Martyrs at Smyrna Notes 79 The meaning of this eminent controversist seems to be, ‘..that there is a contradiction in this’.
1807 Philadelphia Med. Museum 3 167 We must confess, were it so well granted and ascertained, that the Asiatic plague is contagious, our controversist would stand victorious.
1875 H. Sampson Hist. Advertising ix. 201 Whether the advertising controversists do not indulge asperity of language without any adequate provocation?
1923 PMLA 38 836 His early education turned out to be of invaluable service to him as a journalist, pamphleteer, controversist, and compiler.
2004 R. Sweet Antiquaries i. 1 The religious controversists of the latter part of the seventeenth century relied upon historical evidence to substantiate their respective positions.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1623